When asked about slave traders, Rugana opened his mouth with a hint of surprise.
"Um, I'd like to ask—are you trying to buy a slave? If so, you don't really need to ask me. There are plenty of slave merchants out there."
"That's not it," Lindy said, immediately shaking her head at Rugana before explaining the situation she had heard from Camila.
A woman named Anne, who had worked at the orphanage, had apparently been enslaved for some reason and brought to Egginis.
Rei had already heard the story several times, but it still didn't sit well with him. This was undeniably not a pleasant tale.
That said, there was nothing he could do about it right here and now, so he stayed quiet and listened.
"I see. So that's what this is about. I understand why you came to me... but I'm not that knowledgeable about slave traders, you know? It's not like I had a solid grasp on the Slum District situation either."
"Even so, you're the only one we can rely on right now, Rugana."
Faced with Lindy's words, Rugana thought for a moment before nodding.
"Alright. But I don't know that much about slave traders. I only know the shops I'm aware of. There should be a fair number of slave trader shops I don't know about. Anne, was it? If she's at a shop I don't know, there's nothing I can do. Are you okay with that?"
Lindy nodded at Rugana's question—and so did Rei.
"First, where should we go? A big shop or a small one?"
After getting Rugana to tell them every slave trader shop he knew and jotting them down on paper, Rei and Lindy stepped out of the Jalis Workshop. Rei posed the question to Lindy, but then his gaze fell on Camila, who was sitting on Seto's back.
"Before that, shouldn't we leave Camila somewhere first? If he comes along with us, it'll be dangerous."
"Huh!? W-wait a minute!"
Camila, apparently not expecting to be left behind, shouted almost reflexively.
However, Lindy nodded in agreement with Rei's suggestion.
"You're right. We're going to look at slaves, and given the situation, it's not a good idea for Camila to come along."
"Hey, Lindy! Why!?"
With Lindy agreeing with Rei, it meant he would be left behind. Thinking this, Camila showed clear panic, but Lindy spoke to him in a calming tone.
"Listen, Camila. Thinking about what's ahead, I can't take you to a place that sells slaves. Please understand."
"But we're going to save Anne, right!? Then I want to go with you!"
"No."
Camila tried to say more to Lindy, but Rei cut him off sharply.
Perhaps sensing the sharp pressure contained in those words, Camila fell silent.
Rei hadn't actually put that much force into it, but the natural weight in his voice was more than enough to quiet the boy.
Honestly, Rei didn't mind if a child like Camila went to a place that sold slaves. Setting aside idealistic notions, considering the reality of this world, it was only natural.
But with Lindy, Camila's guardian, saying no, Rei couldn't very well insist on bringing him along.
"Even so... where do we leave him? Wouldn't it have been better to leave him at the Jalis Workshop?"
Since Roger and Rugana knew the circumstances, leaving Camila with them wouldn't be a problem. In fact, if it meant earning a favor from Rei and Lindy, they would likely be happy to oblige.
Still, having already stepped outside, going back to the Jalis Workshop felt like a hassle. The Jalis Workshop was a large establishment, and naturally, access was strictly controlled. In Rei's case, since he was an alias-holding A-Rank Adventurer and an acquaintance of Roger, he had been let inside without issue. But going back just to drop off Camila seemed like it would be more trouble than it was worth.
"Then what about your inn?" Rei suggested.
"Hmm, my place is cramped and crowded. I think it'd be fine, but there might be some bad people staying there."
Since Lindy's inn was a cheap one, many of the guests were strapped for cash. As long as they were staying at the inn, nothing would happen immediately, but money was always welcome. If a child was left alone among them, who knew what could happen. Most wouldn't do anything, but it was impossible to guarantee that no one would succumb to temptation and try to sell Camila into illegal slavery.
Whether it was really that easy to make someone an illegal slave was another question, but with the right connections, it wasn't impossible.
"Then my inn?" Rei offered.
"Absolutely not!"
Lindy rejected the idea half-reflexively. But considering that Rei's inn was the Star River Inn—one of the finest establishments in Egginis—her reaction was understandable.
As anyone could tell from meeting him, Camila was a highly energetic child. If such a child were left to wait at a high-class inn like the Star River Inn, there was no telling what he might do. There was a real possibility he could destroy extremely expensive artwork or Magic Items, or insult a noble—one who wasn't on friendly terms with Rei, no less—and end up killed. Given that, they couldn't send Camila to such a place.
"So what do we do, then? Bringing him along is out, your inn is out, and my inn is out. ...What about leaving him with your teammates? They mentioned they had training today, right?"
"That has its own risks."
"I won't deny that."
The phrase "adventurers come in all shapes and sizes" was accurate. Some loved children and were kind, but others found them a nuisance and wouldn't hesitate to resort to violence. Considering those circumstances, Rei agreed it would be better not to leave Camila with Lindy's teammates at the Guild training grounds.
"In that case... right. We could leave him at a dining hall. If we give him enough money, he can eat whatever he wants."
"No good. If we do that, he'll just leave the hall right away and come looking for us."
Coming from an orphanage herself, Lindy understood Camila's personality perfectly—which was why she answered so immediately. In fact, Camila clicked his tongue at Lindy's words, making it perfectly clear what he was thinking.
"Then... we ask Seto."
"Gruu?"
"That's it!"
"Huh? Hey, Lindy!?"
Seto tilted its head at hearing its name from Rei. Lindy cried out as if there were no other option. And Camila, who had assumed he'd be able to join the rescue effort for Anne, shouted at the unexpected turn of events.
In truth, with Seto's high intelligence, it wouldn't let Camila escape. And if anyone tried to harm him for whatever reason, Seto would handle it easily. In that sense, there was no better candidate to babysit Camila. The only downside was that Seto wouldn't be able to act alongside Rei, but since Seto couldn't enter a slave trader's shop anyway, its presence or absence made little difference.
...Well, there was the fact that traveling as just the two of them—Rei and Lindy—reduced the chances of some shady character hassling them. Losing that advantage meant more potential trouble, which was a shame.
In the end, at Lindy's strong insistence, they decided to ask Seto to look after Camila. Rei handed over a reasonable sum of money, telling them to walk around town and grab some food from stalls. Lindy offered to provide the spending money herself, but Rei pointed out that the amount included Seto's share—or rather, that Seto's share was the larger portion—and persuaded her otherwise.
From Rei's perspective, since he was already prepared to lend money to buy Anne back, this level of expense was negligible.
Besides, there were plenty of bandits around Egginis. If he needed funds, he could always go bandit hunting—confiscate their hoarded treasure and sell the bandits themselves as criminal slaves. Though some bandit treasures turned out to be nothing but massive quantities of iron ingots and daily sundries, which would need to be dealt with separately.
"Alright, Seto. We're counting on you."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Seto purred as if to say, "Leave it to me!"
Camila looked dissatisfied with the arrangement, but he had seen Seto's power firsthand when they were attacked by wolves. He knew better than to even think about running.
With Camila entrusted to Seto, Rei and Lindy finally headed for the slave trader shops.
"We're going to the big shop first, right?"
"Yes. If Anne is anywhere, it's more likely to be a major establishment."
A large shop meant high credibility. Especially when dealing in a commodity like slaves, reputation carried significant weight. Moreover, a major establishment had ample capital, which meant they were more likely to have paid a higher price for the slave. From a seller's perspective, that was a natural assumption.
With Rei and Lindy in agreement, they first headed for the largest slave trader in Egginis, one that even Lindy knew by name.
It wasn't boldly situated on the main street, of course, but it was located just slightly off it.
"This is the place," Rei said.
"Right... I hope Anne is here," Lindy murmured in response.
The two entered the shop, but—
"Excuse me, customers. Is there something we can help you with?"
The moment they walked in, someone who appeared to be a clerk approached them. Though the tone was polite, the look in the clerk's eyes made it clear they were wondering if Rei and Lindy had walked into the wrong shop.
(Well, can't blame them.)
Seeing that the clerk's attitude wasn't condescending but rather stemmed from a genuine concern that they might have mistakenly wandered in, Rei didn't find it particularly unpleasant. If they had brought Seto along, the clerk's attitude might have been different, but right now it was just the two of them. Lindy, while a competent adventurer, didn't exactly look wealthy. Rei was wearing the Dragon Robe, an extremely rare Magic Item, but the robe had a concealment effect—so unless the person examining him had extraordinary discernment, they would perceive it as nothing more than an ordinary robe.
As a result, it was only natural for the clerk to think Rei and Lindy looked out of place in a shop of this scale—the largest slave trader in Egginis.
Still, they couldn't just turn around and leave because the clerk was concerned. As long as there was a possibility that Anne had been sold as a slave here, they needed to get answers from the shop directly.
Given that she had been enslaved through formal procedures rather than as an illegal slave, even if Anne was being sold here, they couldn't simply snatch her back by force. They would have to pay properly to buy her back.
That was why Rei needed to show the clerk that he was not what he appeared to be. He retrieved his A-Rank Adventurer Guild Card from his Misty Ring and handed it over.
"I'm Rei, an A-Rank Adventurer. It might be easier if I mention I hold the alias Crimson."
With that, he pulled back the hood he had been wearing, revealing a face that in no way looked like it belonged to a high-rank adventurer. It was what was commonly called a feminine face, and combined with his short stature, it was the kind of face that invited underestimation.
However, the clerk—who had been shown the Guild Card—knew the alias Crimson. Moreover, for a slave merchant, Rei was a valued customer who provided them with bandits to sell as slaves. After all, depending on the case, he sometimes supplied them with slaves by the dozens—and since they were former bandits, they were young, in their prime, and could be sold at a high price.
That said, Rei hadn't actually sold that many bandits as slaves in Egginis. The clerk had likely heard about him through information exchanges between slave traders.
"Glad you understand I'm a customer. ...So, can we talk?"
At Rei's question, the clerk nodded immediately.